SCD 2024 #2 : First slebs announced, warm up continues - No Spoilers Please (added by MNHQ at request of the OP)

[EineReiseDurchDieZeit]

KEEP DANCING EVERYONE

Hopefully this thread will see some closure to the unpleasantness in the form of findings; as well as the build up to the beginning.

Apparently it's Kai who is missing out on a partner - according to the daily
Mail. I am very upset!

Nooooo! I like Kai 😦

I did wonder if the male celeb heavy line up is because there are question marks over a few males pros and they didn't want A.N.other scandal to kick off so only absolutely safe hands, who haven't had a single muttering against, them are being let loose on celebs this year.

Surely not Kai. He’s a safe as houses where the female pros are concerned.

This is a ridiculous decision by Strictly. So they bring back Aljaz to bench Kai.. this is a really bad decision. Poor Kai

lets be honest though, two months ago we would have said the same about Graz...

I suspect Kai is on the bench cos he's tall and there may be a height mismatch - although god only knows why they paired Bobby with Dianne last year, they looked silly with such a heigh discrepancy.

I'm gutted love watching Kai dance.

I can't imagine Kai being a wrong 'un.

Johannes doesn't seem to have even the tiniest shred of malevolence in his smallest fingernail and I think that if Nikita was going to crack it would have been in the earliest days of his pairing with Layton. I ended up quite liking Layton, he wasn't half as annoying as I wrongly assumed he'd be. Maybe it will be Gorka on the bench, hasn't he got a young child?

Do you think the new series will open with Claudia looking directly into camera and breathily asking "Firstly, are you OK?" Followed by the professionals dancing to Jelly Roll's "I Am Not Okay"...?

I suspect it's to minimise the Kai/Nadiya split fall out, especially as she was benched last year so they can't be seen as favouring him over her.

Oh yes. That must be a bit awkward.

Very surprised at the choice of Kai to be benched

I'm surprised Johannes wasn't benched actually. Not because I think he should be, but because he's starting Kinky Boots in the new year, so I assumed he would be a benched pro (giving him starring roles in the group dances) just so he had more time to prepare. I wonder if he might get a duffer for those reasons...

I'm also surprised if Amy gets a partner. I'm excited to see her back (I love her) but I wonder about her physical strength/fitness. While it may do wonders for her mental health, I would worry about her body, so again, I suspect she might have an early 'out' just to protect her. I wouldn't want to see her put too much stress on her body after everything she's been through.

Kai is one of my favourite to watch dancing.

Maybe it's a combination of height and Nadiya.

I'm not a fan of Kai at all. 😬

Nadiya was shelved last year so I'm sure that's linked, as others have said.

Nooo, I love Kai (or Bert, the Catherine Cookson drayman). I wouldn't have got into this stupid situation where they are having to bench two male pros because they've fucked up the casting in the first place but if I had to bench two it would be Neil and Carlos. Carlos's choreography has been a bit ropey, especially in ballroom, and I'm not sure he has really come across as a personality. Kai, if anything, was due an out-and-out ringer.

The omens for this series are not looking good.

I think some of the pros now are a bit too puppyish and saccharine. I liked that Kai doesn't fall into that camp.

How unfair! Kai loses out in first Strictly because of AJ's injury, then gets two elderly ladies, then benched. This is going to be a terrible year, if true.

I liked that he actually looked like a grown man, not a teen.

I love Kai, and would like to see him get another ringer but I think it's unreasonable to refer to Angela as a generic "elderly lady".

She was a very high profile, competent and committed contestant and I'm sure that he was much happier to have her from a professional POV than Zara or Nikita who couldn't dance for toffee and made no impact on the public. In retrospect of course poor Zara would have been much better off with Kai, and maybe Angela would have taken no shit from Graz - but that probably wouldn't have fixed him in the long term.

Kaye Adams said she had a great time with Kai and Angela Rippon was partying with him the other week so it seems unlikely that he is a 'problem' pro, either.

Do we know whether it's unfair or whether he was happy or even volunteered to sit out (poss due to the Nadiya thing)?

Tbf I can't too much with celebs chatting that only lasted two or three weeks.
That doesn't really count.

Kaye was late 50s not elderly!

I suspect the pp has used "elderly" as shorthand for older.
The pros often get one of the following:

• younger contestant
• middle-aged contestant
• older contestant
• contestant with additional needs
• plus-sized contestant
• BAME contestant

along with:

• novice
• some experience
• ringer

The producers try not to repeat dynamics in consecutive years.
Kai has been unlucky.
There are three taller women this year.
Tasha/Montell and Sam.
They couldn't bench Aljaz as he was brought in as a safe pair of hands before the cast was confirmed.
Jojo and Nikita are possibly more popular in terms of votes and followers but the likelihood is that these three tall pros (Aljaz/Jojo/Nikita) were simply a better "fit" chemistry-wise and Kai being paired with Montell could be deemed as too similar to his partnership with AJ, both being tall, athletic, stunning women of colour.

There were rumours of production being funny about him and Nadiya in the first place being an item, no idea why. I'm not sure how amicable the split was. She was making comments about empowerment that I hoped referred to her ex not Kai but the timing and optics were off. They may be aware of that. Nadiya of course sat out last year. Kai was also close to Gio but I highly doubt either his relationship or his friendship have anything to do with the choice of pairings this year. I had wondered if Jojo and Neil had both been requested.

The three shortest pros - you're left with Vito, Gorka and Neil.
They wouldn't bench Vito as last Italian standing and reigning champ.
Gorka has been benched before and was clearly unhappy about it.
Neil has taken benching on the chin. Maybe it is his time to have one last chance (no pressure) or it's his last hurrah.

Either way, production are at fault really with how they do things.
They have a troupe, fine. From which they can use subs, also fine.
But they then take on new pros rather than taking from the current roster.
In the meantime, we never got to see Chloe, Cameron or Michelle properly.
I think that's unfair unless the pro has chosen to be a troupe-member.
I see Josh Keefe is among them this series. Love him.

Bleurgh, two women liking him doesn't equate to deducing that he's unlikely a problem 🤦🏼‍♀️
I'm not suggesting he is a problem either, but we've no idea!

Just casually scrolling - saw that Gio has been cleared - can't find where I saw it to read properly. Anyone else see it or was I dreaming?!